Manx equestrian star Yasmin Ingham made her debut at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials over the weekend.

Unfortunately, the Greeba ace was forced to withdraw from the final day of the event in order to protect her horse, 15-year-old horse Rehy DJ (nicknamed Piglet).

The event is the oldest five-star equestrian competition in the world and takes place at the Badminton estate in Gloucestershire.

The pair enjoyed an excellent start by recording a score of 29.1 in the opening dressage discipline to lie in a lofty fourth place after the first day.

The reigning Isle of Man Sportswoman of the Year, who won individual gold at the World Eventing Championships in 2022, then went clear in the following day’s cross-country round.

The pair recorded 9.6 time-faults which meant they were lying in 14th overall heading into the final day, prompting Yaz to say: ‘Thank you Piglet for jumping clear around our first Badminton XC - he tried his absolute best the whole way around an enormous track and gave me such a class ride.

‘Feeling super lucky to have such a strong partnership with him, so proud.

‘I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced such a wave of emotions galloping around the most iconic 5* event in the world with a home crowd - thank you for all of the cheers to keep Piglet lifted!

‘We’re sitting just outside of the top 10 going into the showjumping tomorrow after picking up a few time penalties but it’s all to play for!’

Unfortunately though, that was the end of the road for the pair’s debut at Badminton as they made the decision to withdraw from the final day of competition.

Speaking on Sunday morning, Ingham explained: ‘Absolutely gutted this morning to withdraw Piglet from the final day of competition here at Badminton after the most incredible round XC yesterday.

‘He isn’t 100 per cent this morning and of course his welfare will always come first.

‘Thank you to everyone for their support.’